Over 14,000 Health Experts Sign Petition Against COVID-19 Lockdowns

A barber wearing a face mask and protective shield gives a client a haircut at a barbershop in Prague, Czech Republic, on May 11, 2020. (Gabriel Kuchta/Getty Images)

More than 14,000 scientists and medical practitioners have signed a petition against lockdown measures put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, saying that they are causing “irreparable damage.”

As of Oct. 8, more than 9,400 medical practitioners and 4,900 medical and public health scientists have joined more than 120,000 members of the general public in signing the petition, which was created on Oct. 4 and co-authored by Harvard professor of medicine Dr. Martin Kulldorff, Oxford professor Dr. Sunetra Gupta, and Stanford Medical School professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.

“As infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists we have grave concerns about the damaging physical and mental health impacts of the prevailing COVID-19 policies, and recommend an approach we call Focused Protection,” reads the petition, which is titled the Great Barrington Declaration, after the Massachusetts town where it was signed.

The petition calls for an end to current lockdown policies, saying that they are producing “devastating effects” on short- and long-term public health.

Some of these devastating effects, the doctors wrote, include lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings, and deteriorating mental health. They argue that this will, in the future, lead to greater excess mortality, with the working class and younger generation “carrying the heaviest burden.”

“Keeping students out of school is a grave injustice,” the petition continues. “Keeping these measures in place until a vaccine is available will cause irreparable damage, with the underprivileged disproportionately harmed.”

They instead insist on an approach that instead focuses on protecting the most vulnerable, while working toward achieving so-called herd immunity, which they describe as “Focused Protection.”

“The most compassionate approach that balances the risks and benefits of reaching herd immunity is to allow those who are at minimal risk of death to live their lives normally to build up immunity to the virus through natural infection, while better protecting those who are at highest risk,” the doctors state.

“Those who are not vulnerable should immediately be allowed to resume life as normal,” the petition adds.

Hygiene measures including staying at home when unwell and frequent hand washing can help achieve the goal of herd immunity, the petition states. Young “low-risk” adults meanwhile return to the office rather than working from home, it adds.

“Restaurants and other businesses should open. Arts, music, sport, and other cultural activities should resume,” the doctors advise. “People who are more at risk may participate if they wish, while society as a whole enjoys the protection conferred upon the vulnerable by those who have built up herd immunity.”

Gupta, Kulldorff, and Bhattacharya didn’t immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

In August, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the United States doesn’t need another lockdown to contain COVID-19, provided that Americans embrace “five or six fundamental public health measures.”

Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, told Politico’s “Pulse Check” podcast on Aug. 5 that “we can get through this without having to revert back to a shutdown,” but only if everyone follows such basics as wearing masks, social distancing, and thorough hygiene.

In its guidance on preventing COVID-19 infection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists six measures to stay healthy and stem the spread of the potentially deadly virus: hand-washing, avoiding close contact with other people, covering the nose and mouth when around others, always covering the mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing and then immediately washing or sanitizing one’s hands for at least 20 seconds, daily cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces, and monitoring one’s health daily.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.